4 reasons to write on the weekend and 4 posts to do it with
you know what i hate about weekends? after a day of spending time with friends and family i want some down time with my rss reader, and all my favorite bloggers have decided to take the day off. the problem isn’t so bad on friday but it gets much worse as we approach sunday. i can’t blame them for taking the day off, but what i can do is provide a few good reasons to blog on the weekend and the three kinds of posts that can be written.
original photo: zappowbang
blogging on a weekend immediately increases your visibility because not many others are blogging. by standing out in the crowd, you have the following 4 advantages:
1. developing loyal readers: by writing consistently, your readers are both better engaged and taken care of. consistently engaged readers are more loyal readers.
2. getting on techmeme: since you are one of the few people writing and getting linked to, content aggregators like techmeme and megite are more likely to pick up your articles.
3. getting on digg: what many bloggers don’t consider is that socially driven sites don’t take days off. diggers are always looking for content to submit, digg, and promote. writing on a slow news day might just be your first entry point onto the digg front page.
4. getting links: linking is an outcome resulting from combinations of the above. let me explain (and this will become clear in the next section too): by getting on techmeme and digg you grab the attention of weekend readers and if they happen to be bloggers, they might just send you some link love.
these are some of the reasons to write on the weekend. after all, what could be better than more loyal readers, more exposure on aggregators and social news sites, and ultimately more links? if i’ve convinced you, here are a few posts you can write:
1. write about writing on the weekend: if you’re going to be writing on the weekend, you might as well take the extra step of letting your readers (and other bloggers) know that you will be writing on the weekend. take an extra step and explain to them why writing on the weekend is a good idea.
2. the link-dump post: the link-dump post is better than not writing at all but is not as good as writing an actual post. by posting relevant and interesting links on your blog you accomplish several things: first, you acknowledge that you’re taking the day off but at the same time you give your readers some other quality content to read. second, it is a great way of letting other bloggers in your niche know that you are reading their content and appreciate it (in fact this may land you some appreciation from them too).
3. the semi-relevant post: the main reason why many bloggers decide to take the weekend off is because they are low-traffic days (they aren’t no-traffic days!). one way to take the day off without actually taking the day off is by targeting anticipated traffic. an example of this (which i have done quite a few times) is writing a post called “5 advertisements that work” (this is for pronet advertising, a marketing blog) and making it just 5 pictures with a paragraph to tie it up. sure it’s a lazy post but its better than nothing and often better than a link-dump post.
4. writing an actual post: maybe you don’t care about who’s not reading, rather you care about who is reading and write an actual post for those readers? or how about I convinced you in the above and you want a good post to receive techmeme or digg attention?
with that said, i hope to enjoy a lot of great content around this time next week!
Technorati Tags: weekend, blogging, social media, techmeme, digg, links
September 16th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Excellent post!
Unfortunately, I have only 4 or 5hrs in a week to write something on my blog but your tips are gems for anyone who started blogging with an aim to become a professional blogger.
September 16th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Four reasons you shouldn’t post on weekends:
1. The weekends are when real life happens.
2. Your fiance banned you from the computer.
3. Your family guilt trips you for never seeing them.
4. Other people are enjoying the weekend and you should, too!
Good points though.
September 16th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Of course I’m checking this on Sunday because the rest of the internet was closed. Thanks for the tips.
September 16th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
@rhea,
and yet you were on the computer, reading this post, and commenting on it.
September 16th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
[...] 4 reasons to write on the weekend and 4 posts to do it with – by [muhammad.saleem] What could be better than more loyal readers, more exposure on aggregators and social news sites, and ultimately more links? (tags: blogging writing weekends blogs) Filed under Links by hyperlinkguerrilla [...]
September 17th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Fantastic tips! On Saturday I do a ‘link dump’ and then on Sunday a normal post, but rarely a ‘best’ article. Last Sunday I ended up posting twice!
September 17th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
[...] Well, Muhammad Saleem answered all my weekend blogging worries with 4 reasons to write on the weekend and 4 posts to do it with. [...]
September 18th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
@Mu – Damn your logic!
September 18th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Some reasons I love writing on weekends :
1. I have actually time when I’m not tired of work. That means I can concentrate more than 3 minutes on a post.
2. It’s easier to get inspired and do something, then blog about it. Walk thru a marketplace with camera and pretty lights and post a few pics about cool shots you tool. Make a nice soup or dinner and blog the recipe. Play with your software or hardware and report the experiment. Learn something, update your resume, … endless.
3. Even do all those 5 posts that you didn’t have time to during the week.
4. If having several blogs, one can be a good destress. Different blog for different things – investigations, photos, deep thoughts, geek experiments and so on.
5. Social blogging stuff and all more into depth posts are just so much easier when you have the whole 2 days to not work while blogging.
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:25 am
[...] [BLOGGING] 4 reasons to write on the weekend and 4 posts to do it with [...]
September 24th, 2007 at 2:13 am
i HAVE to write on weekends because i don’t have that much time on weekdays.
September 24th, 2007 at 8:11 am
My posts are ready when they are ready. I don’t hold up a post from publishing on a weekend even though I can see that less people surf the web or read blogs on Saturday and Sunday.
The weekend effect is not felt much by post-time independent articles.
September 28th, 2007 at 11:50 am
[...] 4 reasons to write on the weekend and 4 posts to do it with – by [muhammad.saleem] Week-End & Marketing (tags: marketing blogging) [...]
December 28th, 2007 at 8:32 am
[...] 4 Reasons to Write on the Weekend and 4 Posts to Do it With (Muhammad Saleem): Don’t call it writer’s block now. [...]
August 4th, 2008 at 5:55 am
[...] Muhammad showed me 4 reasons I should be blogging on weekend. [...]